Lower arm Disconnected over speed bump!!

[dalealtham1]

hi everyone, bought a clio 182 55 reg 3 weeks ago with 42,000 on the clock. all was well for 2 weeks, dropped my gf off at work, on the way home i decided to take the back route home rather than dual carriage way. went down a road with many speed bumps and at the second to last speed bump i felt something dislodge and a klonk. turned left at the end of the road and when i went to straighten the car up no response from the car and hit the curb and the wheel come off!!! i have three witnesses saying what speed i was doing which was 15-20 mph. i bought this clio from a main dealer. i paid extra money to extend the warranty too. they say it is my fault and that it is due to an impact off some sort before the loss of steering!!! if anyone else has had a similiar accurance with a lower arm ball joint, please email me as they are still blaming me for the wheel coming off. thanks

 

[White16valver]

Did you have it inspected before you bought it?

You may have to pay for an inspection yourself to get a second opinion on what's happened and if it can be attributed to any one event which you may or may not have caused.

Bit of a tricky situation tbh. Could be worth a trip to your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

 

[Josh@Renparts]

was the bolt missing out of the bottom of the hub which secures the ball joint?

 

[bmh.01]

was the bolt missing out of the bottom of the hub which secures the ball joint?

Unless the balljoint itself has failed then thats the only way I can think that it can detach. Can't see the two bolts that join it to the wishbone shearing in normal driving.

 

[Josh@Renparts]

yeh exactly, ball joint either needs to break where the ball fits in the cup, or come out of where it locates in the hub, which shouldn't be possible unless the bolt is missing, so if the bolt is missing there is blame.

 

[Alastair.]

they wont pay for it.

 

[Josh@Renparts]

if the bolt is missing they will need to be imo.

 

[mx1_champ]

a mate has this happen 3 times think it turned out to be a dodgy hub that was putting too much play on the top of the balljoint and inturn was shearing the top of the balljoint of . at the end of the day even if you ragged it ( not to hard ovviously ) the it still should not snap what if you were on the motorway and it happened ?????

 

[Dafthead]

Thank your lucky stars you weren't on the motorway doing 70 mate

 

[dalealtham1]

i was on a back road thankfully only doing 20mph. i didnt have it inspected when i bought it as it was from a main dealer and it had a new mot put on it. on further inspection they say the lower arm is bent due to an impact. the bill for parts only is 1200!!! the sub frame apparently is bent. my girlfriend wants me to just pay for it so its back on the road. do you recon i can have any come back after ive paid for it??

 

[caister]

^^ Is she paying?!?!

 

[dalealtham1]

joint account so both of us really. my car but she drives it!! i got me van

 

[White16valver]

Get an independent inspection done (or two) before you get any work done, as otherwise they'll just laugh at you and point out you could be completely making it up!

 

[Josh@Renparts]

we can supply the parts for less than a quarter of that, maybe even less still, where are you located?

 

[Butler205]

I think I would want to be sure the dealer is going to pay the 1200.
If not go elsewhere.

 

[caister]

^^ If your going to just get it done then I wouldn't do it at a dealership get it done at a specialist or a good garage as it will be tonnes cheaper. If your going to try and get them to pay for it get an inspection done. I also found an angry call to Renault UK helped when I had a problem!